Arrests made in Union Point Park incident

By Sun Journal Staff

Published: Friday, June 7, 2013 at 08:11 PM.

Three people suspected to have robbed and mugged a New Bern man at Union Point Park have been arrested and charged by New Bern police.

Joshua D. Matthews, 27, of Bridgeton, Ioma Sutton Smith, 48, of New Bern, both arrested Thursday, and Jaevon Marquell Little, 23, of Rocky Run Road just outside New Bern, arrested June 1, were jailed in connection with the strong-arm robbery of John Weyerhaeuser IV at Union Point Park.

Weyerhaeuser told New Bern police that the incident occurred at the park restroom area between 8:30 and 9 p.m. May 27, and that he was hit in the head and robbed of money and credit cards.

He was taken to CarolinaEast Medical Center for treatment of his injuries.

He said in a Facebook exchange that he had doctors' appointments to “deal with facial fractures and jaw issues suffered in the attack. They took my phone, money, debit cards, ID, etc., and the cards were used before I could get them stopped.”

Matthews, of the 500 block of East Bridge Street, faces the most charges and his bail was set a $59,000 for common law robbery, conspiracy to commit common law robbery, obtaining property by false pretense, and attempting to obtain property by false pretense.

Smith, of the 2400 block of Florida Avenue, was charged with common law robbery and conspiracy to commit common law robbery and is held in lieu of $30,000 bail.

Three people suspected to have robbed and mugged a New Bern man at Union Point Park have been arrested and charged by New Bern police.

Joshua D. Matthews, 27, of Bridgeton, Ioma Sutton Smith, 48, of New Bern, both arrested Thursday, and Jaevon Marquell Little, 23, of Rocky Run Road just outside New Bern, arrested June 1, were jailed in connection with the strong-arm robbery of John Weyerhaeuser IV at Union Point Park.

Weyerhaeuser told New Bern police that the incident occurred at the park restroom area between 8:30 and 9 p.m. May 27, and that he was hit in the head and robbed of money and credit cards.

He was taken to CarolinaEast Medical Center for treatment of his injuries.

He said in a Facebook exchange that he had doctors' appointments to “deal with facial fractures and jaw issues suffered in the attack. They took my phone, money, debit cards, ID, etc., and the cards were used before I could get them stopped.”

Matthews, of the 500 block of East Bridge Street, faces the most charges and his bail was set a $59,000 for common law robbery, conspiracy to commit common law robbery, obtaining property by false pretense, and attempting to obtain property by false pretense.

Smith, of the 2400 block of Florida Avenue, was charged with common law robbery and conspiracy to commit common law robbery and is held in lieu of $30,000 bail.

Little, of the 400 Block of Rocky Run Road, was arrested for obtaining property under false pretense and attempting to obtain property under false pretense with bail set at $9,000. Pending are additional charges of common law robbery and conspiracy to commit common law robbery.

New Bern police sought the community’s help in identifying the people involved in the robbery by distributing photos from a surveillance video in which it is thought one of those involved in the robbery attempted to use the victim’s credit card.

Police said this is the second similar incident at Union Point Park so far this year. Last year five such incidents were reported at the popular riverside park.

New Bern Police Chief Toussaint Summers said he believes this is an isolated incident and police said in a news release that “several citizens have expressed concern about safety in the park.”